Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Balcebpurp.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Balcebpurpxe2x80x99.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Arroyo Grande, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop New Guinea Impatiens cultivars that have a freely branching growth habit and large flowers with attractive flower colors.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1998 of the Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Balcebwium, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,618, as the female, or seed parent, with the Impatiens hawkeri cultivar BFP-397 Light Salmon, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,213, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Balcebpurp was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in Arroyo Grande, Calif. since August, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Balcebpurpxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Balcebpurpxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Impatiens cultivar:
1. Upright, rounded and uniform plant habit.
2. Red purple-colored flowers that are positioned above and beyond the leaves.
3. Dark green and yellow green variegated leaves.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ primarily from plants of the male parent in flower color.
Plants of the new Impatiens are most similar to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Balcebwium. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in West Chicago, Ill., plants of the new Impatiens differed from plants of the cultivar Balcebwium in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens were more compact than plants of the cultivar Balcebwium.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens had shorter lateral branches with shorter internodes than plants of the cultivar Balcebwium.
3. Leaves of plants of the new Impatiens were variegated whereas leaves of plants of the cultivar Balcebwium were not variegated.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens were not as freely flowering as plants of the cultivar Balcebwium.
5. Flower color of plants of the new Impatiens was not as red as flower color of plants of the cultivar Balcebwium.